ROCKVILLE, Md. — According to "Nutritional Supplements in the U.S.," a report released earlier this week from Packaged Facts, supplement sales rose 7% to $11.5 billion in 2012, and are forecasted to reach $15.5 billion by 2017.

The report cited a number of factors, including a recovering economy that should have more consumers picking up on supplementing again, the aging baby boomer and a growing Hispanic population that is heavily indexed as supplement users.

According to Packaged Facts publisher David Sprinkle, condition-specific supplements continue to grow in range and importance, and will remain a key driver of sales and new product development across various segments — including joint, brain, heart and beauty — with many of these products honing in on age-related issues. At the other end of the condition-specific spectrum, children's supplements have been doing well, demographically book-ending the overall market and laying the foundation for the market's future prospects, the report noted.